Claiming of the Demon King (ICS Book One)

Chapter Thirty-Three - Unexpected Help

Unexpected Help

Victoria struggled against the bonds over her wrists. She sat on the dirt ridden floor of a dungeon in an old keep. The cell was cold and damp, the air too thick. Her feet and hands were bound with mystically enforced chains. The metal cut into her skin and her fingers had gone numb.

Across the cell at a small table sat the werewolf. Vincent watched her arrogantly, his dark eyes gleaming in the light of a few candles.

She glared angrily at the wolf as he drank deeply from a bottle of whiskey. He slammed the bottle down onto the table, splashing the amber liquid.

Wiping a hand over his mouth he leered at Victoria. "Come now she-elf, do not look at me like that."

Victoria resisted the urge to spit at his feet. "You didn't need to tie me up. I said I would go willingly."

Vincent snorted. "Do you think me fool? You and I both know at the first chance you'll try to escape."

She winced. "Why are you doing this? Just let me go, Vincent." She needed to escape, needed to get back to Sebastian. Being away from her demon felt as if a massive hole had been ripped into her chest. She struggled just to breathe.

Vincent rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "So eager for your cursed demon?" He rubbed the sleeve of his shirt over his sweating forehead.

Victoria scowled as she inspected his features. Something was wrong with him. The wolf's eyes were blood-shot and his usually clean-shaven face looked as if he hadn't shaved in weeks. The arm that Sebastian had clawed was heavily bandaged, blood still seeping from the wound.

Wouldn't that have healed by now? Werewolves were immortal and fast healers.

Victoria could smell the wound on his arm and knew it was infected but could form no sympathy for the man before her. "What's wrong with you?"

He glared at her sideways. "Nothing is wrong with me."

"Why do you want me, Vincent? What could you possibly want with me!?" she cried, tears of frustration welling in her eyes.

"You'll find out soon enough," he remarked absently.

Her lower lip trembled. "Please just let me go. I won't tell-"

He cut her off with a growl. "So eager to return? Don't tell me you're in love with that demon?"

She was. Deeply. And it was written all over her face.

Vincent gave a shallow laugh. "You are! My god." He shook his head. "You pick a cursed demon over me?"

"Go to hell, Vincent!" Victoria shouted. "You sicken me!"

Vincent's dark eyes narrowed. Standing up he approached her. She cringed as he kneeled in front of her, slamming his hand against the wall over her head. "Silence woman. If it were not for this wound and my inebriated state I would be fucking you over that table and claiming you as mine right now." He reached forward, tugging at a lock of her hair.

She jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"You let that monster touch you. You let him fuck you too, didn't you?" Vincent yanked on her hair, forcing her head back. "But your demon failed to claim you fully. You don't bear his mark. Perhaps he doesn't want you as much as you thought."

That hurt. It felt as if he'd just stabbed a knife into her heart. "I don't care. I will always belong to him."

"Apparently your demon doesn't feel the same. Why has he not come for you?"